Convicted killer agrees to life term

ABILENE (AP) - A convicted killer who once faced execution has agreed to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Wayne East accepted a deal that gave him a life sentence for killing a 76-year-old woman during a 1981 burglary, KTXS-TV reported.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1997 that a new jury should sentence East, who was convicted of killing Mary Eula Sears of Abilene.

The judges said prosecutors failed to disclose evidence that might have helped East during his 1982 trial.

Defense lawyers last week filed a motion for a whole new trial. But Taylor County prosecutors said they did not want to take a chance that East could be found innocent since some witnesses have died and the memories of others have faded.

On Friday, East admitted he fatally stabbed Sears, and state District Judge Billy John Edwards accepted the plea bargain.